Egypt

Coverage of ongoing events in Egypt

Tens of thousands Egyptians protested on Tuesday against President Mohamed Mursi in one of the biggest rallies since Hosni Mubarak's overthrow, accusing the Islamist leader of seeking to impose a new era of autocracy.

Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing youths in streets near the main protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square, heart of the uprising that toppled Mubarak last year. Clashes between Mursi's opponents and supporters erupted in a city north of Cairo.

But violence could not overshadow the show of strength by the normally divided opponents of Islamists in power, posing Mursi with the biggest challenge in his five months in office.

An anti-Mursi protester holds empty tear gas canisters that were shot by the riot police during a protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo November 27, 2012. Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi clashed with Egyptian police on Tuesday as thousands of protesters stepped up pressure on the Islamist to scrap a decree they say threatens the nation with a new era of autocracy. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Islam Massoud's funeral laid bear the political feud in Egypt that caused his death.

It was mostly Muslim Brotherhood supporters who turned out to pay their respects to the teenager, killed in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour when he went out to support President Mohamed Mursi and the Islamist group that stands behind him.

Yet the streets surrounding the town square, where hundreds gathered for the 15-year-old's funeral, were festooned with banners proclaiming opposition to the Islamists.

Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi clashed with Egyptian police, as thousands of protesters stepped up pressure on the Islamist to scrap a decree they say threatens the nation with a new era of autocracy.

The decree that expanded President Mohamed Mursi's powers and plunged Egypt into crisis came as a shock to some of his team; a step with huge legal ramifications, it appeared to have caught even his justice minister off guard.

The surprise move on November 22 has fueled debate on how far the Muslim Brotherhood is dictating policy and ignoring cabinet members and others in an administration that Mursi presents as being inclusive of Egypt's political forces and not dominated by the Islamist party whose electoral muscle put him in office.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Adoustour party leader Mohamed ElBaradei (C) joins protesters during a march against President Mohamed Mursi's decree, at Shubra district in Cairo November 27, 2012. Opponents of Mursi clashed with Cairo police on Tuesday as thousands of protesters around the nation stepped up pressure on the Islamist leader to scrap a decree they say threatens Egypt with a new era of autocracy. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr on Monday to underscore U.S. hopes that Egypt's political crisis can be resolved in a democratic manner, the State Department said.

Clinton reiterated U.S. concerns about Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decision to assume sweeping powers and checked in on the progress of discussions between Mursi and senior judges on the way forward, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing.

"The secretary underscored the importance of settling these disputes in a democratic manner, so we look forward to seeing the outcome of that (discussion)," Nuland said.

Prominent writer Alaa al-Aswany walks with anti-Mursi protesters as they chant anti-government slogans in Tahrir Square in Cairo November 27, 2012. Tens of thousands Egyptians protested on Tuesday against President Mohamed Mursi in one of the biggest rallies since Hosni Mubarak's overthrow, accusing the Islamist leader of seeking to impose a new era of autocracy. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

Police in Cairo fired tear gas on protestors in Tahrir Square early Wednesday, November 28, after a huge opposition protest there against President Mohamed Morsi’s grab of sweeping powers earlier in the week. There have been clashes between police and protestors through the night. This video shows a line of police in Tahrir facing large crowds of protestors. The uploader says an “unlimited amount of tear gas” was used on protestors.

Police in Cairo fired tear gas on protestors in Tahrir Square early Wednesday, November 28, after a huge opposition protest there against President Mohamed Morsi’s grab of sweeping powers earlier in the week. There have been clashes between police and protestors through the night. This video shows violent clashes between police and what appears to be a group of protestors. Tear gas is being fired.

Youths throw stones at police during clashes near Tahrir Square in Cairo November 28, 2012. Hundreds of demonstrators were in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a sixth day on Wednesday, demanding that President Mohamed Mursi rescind a decree they say gives him dictatorial powers, while two of Egypt's top courts stopped work in protest. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih

CAIRO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Leading opposition figure Amr Moussa said an effort by Egypt's constitutional assembly to finish the draft on Wednesday did not make sense because of widespread anger with the Islamist-dominated body.

"This is nonsensical and one of the steps that shouldn't be taken, given the background of anger and resentment to the current constitutional assembly," he told Reuters.

CAIRO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The head of the assembly drafting Egypt's new constitution said the final draft would be finished on Wednesday, and three other members of the assembly told Reuters the document would be put to a vote on Thursday.

"We will start now and finish today, God willing," Hossam el-Gheriyani, the assembly speaker, said at the start of a meeting of the constitutional assembly in Cairo. He said Thursday would be a "great day", without elaborating, and called on the members who had withdrawn from the body to return.

Speaking to Reuters, assembly members Younes Makhyoun and Salah Abdel Maboud, both Salafi Islamists, said a vote on the final draft was planned for Thursday. Amr Abdel Hadi, one of the few remaining liberal members, said the same.

(Reuters) - A Cairo court on Wednesday sentenced to death seven Egyptian Christians tried in absentia for participating in an anti-Islam video that was released on the Internet in September and had prompted violent protests in many Muslim countries.

"The seven accused persons were convicted of insulting the Islamic religion through participating in producing and offering a movie that insults Islam and its prophet," Judge Saif al-Nasr Soliman said.

The crude, low-budget video, produced privately in California, denigrated the Prophet Mohammad and triggered anti-U.S. protests and attacks on Western embassies around the Muslim world.

CAIRO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi will address the nation on Thursday on matters including the decree he issued last week and the street protests that erupted afterwards, a presidential source told Reuters on Wednesday.

"The President will address the nation on state TV on Thursday evening and will speak about the constitutional decree and why it was issued as well as the events that ensued afterwards," said the source.

The assembly writing Egypt's constitution said it could wrap up a final draft later on Wednesday, a move the Muslim Brotherhood sees as a way out of a crisis over a decree by President Mohamed Mursi that protesters say gives him dictatorial powers.

But as Mursi's opponents staged a sixth day of protests in Tahrir Square, critics said the Islamist-dominated assembly's bid to finish the constitution quickly could make matters worse.

This video shot from above Tahrir is said to show tensions in the square after a night of clashes between police, protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters across Egypt. The same uploader is a regular chronicler of events in and around Tahrir. The video includes a general view of the protest camp in the middle of the square.

Mursi to speak as Egypt's Islamists seek way out of crisis by Tom Perry and Marwa Awad

The body writing Egypt's new constitution began a session to vote on a final draft on Thursday, a move President Mohamed Mursi's allies in the Muslim Brotherhood hope will help end a crisis prompted by a decree expanding his powers.

Mursi is expected to call for national unity in a public address at 7.00 p.m. (1700 GMT) to ease the crisis, which has set off a week of protests and threatens to derail early signs of economic recovery from two years of turmoil.

A protester sits down with a shield which belongs to a riot policeman during clashes along a road which leads to the U.S. embassy, near Tahrir Square in Cairo November 28, 2012. Hundreds of demonstrators were in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a sixth day on Wednesday to demand that President Mohamed Mursi rescind a decree they say gives him dictatorial powers, and two of Egypt's top courts stopped work in protest. Protesters earlier beat up at least two riot police officers, whose bullet-proof vests and shields were taken away from them. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

The assembly drafting Egypt's new constitution voted on Thursday to keep "principles of sharia" - Islamic law - as the main source of legislation, language unchanged from the previous constitution in force under former President Hosni Mubarak.

The issue was the subject of a long dispute between hardline Salafi Islamists and liberals in the assembly which will vote on each of 234 articles in the draft constitution before it is sent to President Mohamed Mursi for approval.

General Mamdouh Shahin (R), member of the ruling military council, speaks with members of Egypt's constitution committee during a meeting at the Shura Council for the final vote on the new draft constitution in Cairo November 29, 2012. An assembly drafting Egypt's new constitution voted on Thursday to keep the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation, unchanged from the previous constitution in force under former President Hosni Mubarak. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

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